What more can we learn from R&D alliances? A review and research agenda

Andrea Martinez-Noya & Rajneesh Narula

#2018-022

R&D cooperation has become a core aspect of the innovation strategy of
R&D-performing organisations over the last three decades. Globalisation
has increased the imperative to organise these cross-border, inter-firm
agreements efficiently, and this has led to a cross-fertilisation of
ideas from a variety of fields, including international business,
management, geography and, more recently, psychology. The aim of this
paper is to review and synthesise this literature to identify new
directions for research. The breadth of the academic discussion has
evolved towards a general consensus on governance choice decisions,
motives for collaboration, partner selection decisions and performance
implications. Despite having achieved some degree of clarity on these
issues, the growing complexity and international nature of these
alliances requires a multidisciplinary approach, both in relation to the
theories to apply, as well as in the type of data needed.